Company Bytes · Episode 1 · Company Bytes · Season 1 · It started as something else
Nintendo's Playing Cards
Before video games, Nintendo made playing cards. The company dates its start to 1889 in Kyoto, Japan, when Fusajiro Yamauchi made hanafuda, small flower-covered cards. It moved into toys in the 1960s and released a home video game machine, the Color TV-Game, in 1977.
A card company in Kyoto
Nintendo dates its founding to September 1889 in Kyoto, Japan. That is the company's own date: some historians question it, which is why we say "Nintendo says it began in 1889." Its founder, Fusajiro Yamauchi, made playing cards.
What hanafuda are
Hanafuda means "flower cards." They are small Japanese playing cards with twelve suits, one for each month of the year, and each month is shown by a plant or flower. They are used mostly for matching games, where you pair cards that belong together. The cards in our video are our own simple drawings, not copies of any real deck.
From cards to toys
For many years, cards were Nintendo's main business. Then, in the 1960s, the company moved into toys.
1977: a home video game machine
In 1977, Nintendo released the Color TV-Game in Japan. It was the company's first line of home video game consoles: a machine you connected to your own television. From printing cards in 1889 to video games in 1977 is 88 years, almost ninety.
Try it yourself
Think of three companies whose products you use every day. Do you know what each one made first? Write down your guesses, then look up each company's history and see how many you got right. Watch for the word "says": a company's own story and the historical record do not always match.
Good to know
- Nintendo dates its founding to September 1889 in Kyoto; some historians question that date, so it is given as the company's date.
- Hanafuda ("flower cards") have twelve suits for the months, each shown by a plant or flower, and are used mostly for matching games.
- The Color TV-Game (1977) was released in Japan and was Nintendo's first home video game console line.
- "Almost ninety years" is 1889 to 1977, which is 88 years.
- A popular story says the name means "leave luck to heaven." It isn't confirmed, so we skip it.
- All artwork in the video is our own. No logos, characters or console designs are shown. Byte Sized Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by any company mentioned.
Your take
Which old Nintendo product would you most want to try: the flower cards, the toys, or the Color TV-Game? There's no wrong answer. Tell us your pick, and why, in the comments.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "History of Nintendo": the 1889 founding in Kyoto by Fusajiro Yamauchi to make hanafuda cards, doubts about the 1889 date, the move into toys in the 1960s and the Color TV-Game in 1977
Video transcript
Before Mario, Nintendo made playing cards. So how did a card company end up making video games?
Nintendo says it began in eighteen eighty-nine, in the city of Kyoto, Japan.
Its founder, Fusajiro Yamauchi, made hanafuda. Those are small Japanese playing cards decorated with flowers and plants, used for matching games.
For many years, cards were the main business. Then, in the nineteen sixties, the company moved into toys.
And in nineteen seventy-seven, it released a home video game machine called the Color TV-Game.
Cards, then toys, then video games. The same company, almost ninety years after it started printing cards.
Which old Nintendo product would you most want to try? Comment below!
That's your byte.